By JARROD POTTER
A LITTLE went a long way for Dandenong (9/173) claiming the season’s biggest upset to date in Premier Cricket – knocking off a star-studded Prahran (169) in a stop-start rain-affected afternoon.
Three times the players were called off within the first hour as sporadic rain kept the groundsmen and players shuffling the covers on and off.
When a decent patch of play emerged, so did Dandenong’s first major partnership of the day – with Brett Forsyth (36) and new import Andrew Gale (27) adding 53 for the second scalp.
The pair fell to Matt Wilcox (2/1) and quickly the Panthers deteriorated from 1/76 to 5/102 with Cameron Forsyth (11) and James Nanopoulos (13) chipping in to help the tally along.
Still 43 in arrears when young spinning all-rounder Jack Worrell (14) fell to Steven Singh (1/22), the next round of Panthers’ revival came from Rob Hearn (27) – who guided the tail to victory.
Hearn lost Dan Doran (1) to a run-out from Adam Bull/Mascarenhas before stabilising with Matt Wilcocks (12). Hearn’s 89-ball knock was the critical factor in stopping the Prahran rampage and allowed the deep-tail to push around the final nine runs needed after Hearn fell to Josh Miller (3/63).
Thrust into a situation he knows all too well, Justin Butterfield (9no) guided the last few runs into the scoresheet in tandem with James Wilcock (5no) – who kept the five theme going following his five-wicket haul last week.
Former English international Dimitri Mascarenhas (0/26) was miserly but unlucky not to claim any wickets from his 20 overs – including an impressive nine maidens.
The win pushes Dandenong back up towards the right end of the ladder – moving into 14th position with a 2-1-4 record.
Dandenong faces Frankston-Peninsula next round in a two-dayer at AH Butler Oval.
